LAKE WALES | A local basketball coach has been fired over the handling of a student fight.

By PHIL ATTINGERLedger Media Group

LAKE WALES | A local basketball coach has been fired over the handling of a student fight.

Burney Hayes has been removed from coaching and substitute teaching duties at Lake Wales High School.

Lake Wales police completed a complaint affidavit charging Hayes with simple battery and forwarded it to the State Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to proceed with a criminal charge.

According to police reports, Hayes physically escorted a 16-year-old student from the school gymnasium during a 9 a.m. basketball practice Jan. 7, in order to break up a fight.

Police reports said Hayes, a former police officer, used a law enforcement hold on the student to direct him out of the gym.

The student was allegedly told to leave the school, said Deputy Chief Troy Schulze, but didn't, so Hayes "re-engaged him physically and verbally."

Schulze said the young man's parents want to proceed with charges against Hayes.

Principal Donna Dunson didn't witness the incident, but said it was caught on three separate surveillance tapes.

She said Hayes, who was on contract work as both a substitute teacher and "citizen coach," will no longer be working with Lake Wales High. Citizen coaches, she said, are paid a small stipend, but are not employees.

Calvin Marion, who helped organize a community meeting on the matter Monday evening, said he and others saw the surveillance tapes but did not see Hayes as that aggressive.

Hayes was at the community meeting and said that he wasn't worried about his own situation.

"All is well and God is good," he said.

After people at the meeting said that they were losing youth advocates like Hayes and Billy D. Washington, Hayes encouraged them to persist if they wanted to see change.

He recommended people keep pushing for what they want, whether that is to have him reinstated or have more support for teachers from administration.

Hayes has had troubles before now. He was fired from the Lake Wales Police Department in October 2010 for going home during his shift and being out of contact by police radio or cellphone for more than an hour.

He was charged with battery and accused of biting the nose of a 15-year-old football player on the Lake Wales High team he helped to coach in 2008.

The case was dropped after he attended an anger management program and made a $250 donation to a youth organization.

Robin Gibson, legal counsel for Lake Wales Charter Schools, said Dunson had received an anonymous phone call threatening her safety.

Gibson said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Police Chief Chris Velasquez have assured him their agencies will investigate and identify the caller.

"We have to take strong measures against threats of school violence in Lake Wales," Gibson said. "We are not going to have a Sandy Hook incident."

David Smith, president of the Lake Wales branch of the NAACP, said he is concerned because the incident could undermine teachers' authority in the classroom.

Smith described Hayes as a "man of the community," who has served as a police officer, coach and a local pastor.

Marcus Walker Sr. said at Mondays's meeting that Hayes has been unfairly characterized simply because he's a disciplinarian.